Fall Activities Will Feel WAY Better with Orthotics
If you want to be a great doctor, here’s one of the first things you should realize—it’s never really just about “fixing” a specific medical problem. If all you see are bones and muscles, and inflammation and infections, you’ll never really address what the patient needs most.
Here’s what we mean by that.
The reason that heel pain (just to use one example) is such a big problem for so many people isn’t so much “my heel hurts.” It’s more about what that heel pain prevents you from being able to do.
So when we prescribe orthotics—to use another great example—the main selling point isn’t really so much that your feet will feel better (although they will), it’s about how they can help you live your best life.
A Four-Paragraph Explanation of Why Orthotics Make Such a Difference
See, for many of our patients, putting orthotics in their shoes is sort of like putting on glasses for the first time after dealing with blurry vision for years and years. All of a sudden, a whole new word with new possibilities opens up. That comparison is apt for a few reasons. Glasses, of course, don’t actually fix any biological problems with your eyes. But by bending and refocusing light, they allow those same defective eyes to see things perfectly clearly. You can think of orthotics much the same way. By birth or through wear and tear, many people have feet and ankles with structural or biomechanical defects. These defects can contribute to anatomical misalignments, painful pressure and excess stress on muscles and joints throughout the entire body—not just the feet and ankles. And because your whole body feels the pressure, you start to find that you can’t enjoy the same lifestyle you used to, because the pain and fatigue come on too quickly and too severely. Orthotics don’t reshape your feet. But like prescription glasses for your eyes, prescription orthotics will improve alignment and motion and help your feet handle weight and stress in a healthy way. In short, they let you enjoy your favorite activities pain-free.Fall Activities That’ll Feel WAY Better After You Get Your Orthotics
Now, let’s bring this all back around to the headline and introduction of today’s blog. Fall is coming up, and that’s a wonderful time to be in Southern California—if your feet aren’t hurting, that is. But maybe you, like many others, have been cutting back more and more on your outdoor adventures and social activities, simply because you know your feet aren’t going to hold out. Well, like we said at the beginning of the blog—the point of treatment isn’t pain relief per se, but improving your lifestyle. You might not have many symptoms in your day to day life. But if you’ve had to cut back your lifestyle in order to avoid pain, that’s no good either! You shouldn’t have to compromise. How would you like to be able to do the following with confidence again?- Go to an amusement park. When’s the last time you went to Disneyland, Six Flags, Knott’s Berry Farm, or any of the other seemingly dozens of great theme parks right on our doorstep? Fall is often one of the best times to go, with slightly cooler temperatures and Halloween themes adding spooky scares to the standard thrills.
- Go hiking. We’ve written before about some of the great places to go hiking within and around our community. Suffice it to say, there’s no shortage of glorious vistas, serene beaches, and peaceful woodlands to explore. If foot pain and fatigue has kept you from communing with nature the way you want to, orthotics may be just what you need.
- Go shopping. When was the last time you went down to the Shops at Ladera Ranch, Outlets at Orange, or just into downtown for a shopping day? Don’t let your aching feet keep you from having fun—alone or with friends!
- Get your game on. Fall weekends are the perfect time to head down to the park for a little pickup soccer or basketball, or a friendly game of tennis with your regular hitting partner. Yes, orthotics are a great choice for athletes, too—they not only help you play longer and reduce your injury risk, but can actually improve your game, too!
- Go hunting. Fall is hunting season for most game in California, including deer. But if you’re no longer able to carry all of your gear out to the deer stand thanks to foot pain, you might find yourself choosing to stay behind while your friends enjoy the weekend. Orthotics could reverse that trend.